Workers Solidarity Movement

March 15th saw Dublin’s third annual Anarchist Bookfair. Despite a day-long downpour, over 800 people passed through. Thirteen different meetings were held on topics as varied as the health service, the Lisbon treaty, climate change, feminism and class, and trade union organisation. Interest in finding out more was reflected in the €3,000+ worth of books and pamphlets purchased from stalls operated by Workers Solidarity Movement, CAZ Books, Just Books, Anarchist Federation of Britain, Irish Socialist Network, Oxfam Bookstore and others.

All day long, the film room showed alternative movies. And, in the kids’ area, there were crafts and fun aplenty. Following much debate and discussion, the evening ended with a packed social event in the Clifton Court Hotel. And despite the lateness of events on Saturday night, early Sunday afternoon saw a lively bunch of people participate in a guided walking tour of radical sites in the city centre. We were also busy helping to publicise the March 29th health protest. As part of our contribution it was the cover story in our last issue, we published a pamphlet called ‘Towards a Cure’, and we gave out 10,000 WSM leaflets asking people to attend.

The Belfast WSM branch has started as they mean to go on, active and outgoing. 1,000 copies of the new northern edition of Workers Solidarity are being distributed, mainly door-to-door. Having their own edition means being able to feature local stories on the front and back pages, while the inside pages are the same as the southern paper. Belfast also saw about 20 people attend an anarchist fringe meeting at the National Union of Journalists annual delegate meeting, where speakers included NUJ executive member Donnacha DeLong, Village columnist and WSM member Chekov Feeney, and Jason Branigan from ‘Organise!’

Galway saw its first WSM public meeting in April on ‘Organising For Anarchism’, with 10 people offering to distribute Workers Solidarity in their neighbourhoods. To get in touch you can call Sevinc at 087-9391284. Throughout May and early June we will be campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty because it endorses and continues the bosses’ agenda of militarisation, and privatisation. Unlike some, our opposition is not based on any nationalist sentimentality or worry about the government losing the automatic right to nominate one of their millionaire pals as a Commissioner. We oppose it because it is not good for working people, that is what concerns us. More information at www.wsm.ie/voteno. If you would like to find out more and possibly help out, email wsm_ireland@yahoo.com or write to WSM, P.O. Box 1528, Dublin 8.

This article is from Workers Solidarity 103, May - June 2008

PDF of the southern edition of WS103
PDF of northern edition of WS103

If you would like to help promote the anarchist alternative, why not take 20 copies of Workers Solidarity every two months. There are people all over Ireland who do just that, and put then through neighbours’ letterboxes or give them out at meetings and gigs. Simply send us your name and address and we’ll get them to you.